In recent years, recycled paper is increasingly used for printing in consideration of environmental concerns. In general, when recycled paper is used as a recording medium the quality of the image printed is lessened as compared to when standard paper is used. Also, printed image quality may vary depending on the recycled content ratio or recycled component types used in the recycled paper.
A user can improve the final print quality of a printed image by adjusting printing conditions for each recording medium type used. However, it is typically troublesome to check the type of the recording medium being used and then to set the printing condition for each recording medium accordingly.
In order to eliminate requirement for the user to perform the necessary setting adjustment for each printing, a technology has been developed in which a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag storing information regarding the recycled paper is embedded in the paper, and the information stored in the RFID tag can be read by multi-function peripherals to permit automatically changing of printing conditions to those appropriate for the recycled paper type.
The RFID tag includes an integrated circuit (IC) chip and an antenna. In general, an RFID tag may be easily damaged if the IC chip is heated to a high temperature or if the antenna portion is subjected to a strong pressing force. When the recording medium having an RFID tag embedded therein passes through a fixing device during a printing operation of a multi-function peripheral or the like, the RFID tag embedded in the recording medium is heated and pressed. Therefore, the RFID tag embedded in the recording medium may be damaged by the fixing device.